NSPCC apologises to Sheffield family abused by father

The charity was involved with members of Family Q, who cannot be named for legal reasons, between 1975 and 1979.

After allegations of physical abuse were made the charity convened three case conferences with Sheffield social services. However, after looking over the records of the time the NSPCC concluded that the explanations given by the parents "were too readily accepted".

In a statement the charity said: "Since the 1970s, the way such cases are handled has moved on considerably. The importance of robustly challenging parents' explanations of events is now recognised. Today, the NSPCC takes a far more child-focused approach to its work."

Children's organisations involved in the case came in for damning criticism in a serious case review published this week.

It found that opportunities to take the children into care and arrest the father, who fathered seven children after raping his two daughters, were missed on numerous occasions.

The father, who is serving a life sentence, moved the family 67 times across Sheffield and Lincolnshire to avoid detection.

In a joint response to the serious case review report Sheffield and Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Boards also apologised to the family.

Sue Fiennes, independent chair of Sheffield Safeguarding Children Board, said: "We want to apologise to the family at the heart of this case. It will be clear that we failed this family."

Chris Cook, independent chair of Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Board, added: "We are genuinely sorry. We should have protected you. This is a tragic and complicated case that involved more than 100 professionals working in 28 agencies."